On Defense
Offensively, Archie Goodwin already has the tools to become a very good player down the road. Watching his brilliant flashes of potential — from rising up to destroy Jonas Valanciunas at the rim to dropping 29 points on the Sacramento Kings as a rookie — tells us he’s on the right trajectory on the offensive end of the floor.
Like most of the players on the Suns’ roster, it’s the defensive end where Goodwin will need to improve.
You don’t have to watch Goodwin for long on defense to tell he’s still figuring things out. If we can rave about his potential by saying, “And he’s only 20 years old!” we should also be able to explain his learning curve on the defensive end with, “He is only 20 years old.”
Not a huge stat line, but really good game from Archie Goodwin today. Attacking on O. Feisty on D.
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) March 16, 2015
Rookies and younger players often struggle to adapt to NBA defensive rotations. After all, the level of talent on offense is a whole new world for most of these guys and defensive schemes at the professional level demand a lot more attention and know-how. Still, Goodwin is starting to show signs on that end of the floor, unlocking the key to his playing time in the process.
“The biggest thing we tell Archie is, ‘If you’re not killing us defensively, it’s easier to keep you in there,'” Hornacek said. “I thought he was doing a good job of fighting over screens, really trying to put pressure on guys. He was our one guy picking guys up in the backcourt and we’re looking for a guy that can do that.”
Three steals is nothing to get overly excited about, and we probably shouldn’t read too much into one of Goodwin’s best defensive performances coming against the offensively inept Knickerbockers. But Goodwin’s effort on that end extends beyond a couple of steals in one game against an NBA bottom feeder. As he continues to get stronger and gain more experience, all that length and speed could come in handy.
Next: Fitting In With The Suns